Ras Al Khaimah: After a three-year break from her studies, Shivna Baruthipara Siddiq, a student who is blind, crowned her return to education by winning the Ras Al Khaimah Award for Educational Excellence in its 20th edition, in the category of outstanding student with special needs.
Shivna was able to complete her education up to the 11th grade, achieving academic results that exceeded 70% in some subjects, in addition to showcasing her talents in reciting poetry, public speaking, storytelling, and singing in three languages, overcoming the difficulties of blindness, interruption of education, and adapting to studying in a regular school.
Shivna began her educational journey at a specialised school in India, where she continued her studies until the fourth grade, before stopping her education during the COVID-19 pandemic. She was out of school for three years, during which she did not complete the fifth, sixth and seventh grades.
Later, she returned to the classroom in the UAE, enrolling directly in the eighth grade at the Ideal English School in Ras Al Khaimah. She faced a new challenge: keeping up with the curriculum and adapting to an educational environment that included sighted students, after years of studying at a specialised educational institution.
Her teacher, Akhila Santosh, said that Shivna was the only blind student in the school when she enrolled, noting that her return to education was not easy, especially since she moved to the eighth grade without completing three grades, which required double the effort to adapt to the new curriculum and make up for the years of interruption, in addition to integrating into classrooms and school activities.
She added that the school treated Shivna like her classmates, and made sure to provide her with opportunities to participate in various programmes, events and competitions, without her blindness being an obstacle to her participation. She explained that she faced difficulties at the beginning, but she showed determination to learn, and gradually began to participate in activities, until she became one of the students who were keen to attend and compete in school programmes.
Santosh explained that despite the challenges she faced, Shivna managed to pass the 10th grade according to the curriculum of the Central Board of Secondary Education of India (CBSE), and move on to the eleventh grade, after achieving academic results that exceeded 60% in her subjects. She reached more than 70% in some of them, considering that this progress represents an important achievement for a student who returned to education after a long interruption, and had to keep up with an advanced academic level, compared to the stage at which she stopped.
Her teacher pointed out that Shivna has multiple talents that are not limited to academics, as she has excelled in reciting poems, telling stories, public speaking and acting, as well as singing in three languages, namely Arabic, English and Malayalam, which has enabled her to participate in various competitions and events inside and outside the school.
She said that one of Shivna's most remarkable qualities is her ability to memorise quickly. She can learn a new song, memorise its lyrics and perform it within an hour or two, even if she's hearing it for the first time.
Santosh noted that Shivna possesses great confidence in her abilities and is always ready to try new things whenever the opportunity arises. She added that the student's talents began to emerge before she moved to the UAE, pointing out that Shivna's achievements reflect her ability to overcome the difficulties she faced.
She explained that encouraging her participation in activities and providing her with opportunities to showcase her talents contributed to boosting her self-confidence and developing her skills, enabling her to participate alongside her peers in various events.
Shivna's win was among 68 recipients at the 20th Ras Al Khaimah Award for Educational Excellence ceremony, organised by the Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, in recognition of the achievements of students, teachers, parents, and educational institutions in the emirate's public and private schools.
For her part, Sumaya Al Shehhi, Director of the Ras Al Khaimah Award for Educational Excellence, said that the 20th session saw the honouring of 68 winners out of 293 nominations, across 26 categories. She noted that the award has witnessed development over the past two decades in the areas of excellence and evaluation criteria, to keep pace with the changes taking place in the educational sector.